PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. — Furry little Punxsutawney Phil is ready to make its annual appearance out of Gobbler's Knob.

Groundhog Day is Saturday, and the west-central Pennsylvania community is holding its welcome-back bash for the famous winter-weather prognosticator.

Phil is known as the "seer of seers" and "sage of sages." Legend has it that if the groundhog sees his shadow on Feb. 2, winter will last six more weeks. No shadow means an early spring.

Organizers say about 20,000 people were expected for the event, a larger-than-normal crowd because Groundhog Day falls on a weekend this year.

Phil's got company in the forecasting department. There's Staten Island Chuck, in New York; General Beauregard Lee, in Atlanta; and Wiarton Willie, in Wiarton, Ontario, among others noted by the National Climactic Data Center "Groundhog Day" Web page.

"Punxsutawney can't keep something this big to itself," the Data Center said. "Other prognosticating rodents are popping up to claim a piece of the action."

But Punxsutawney partisans insist Phil is the original — and the best.

"We welcome them all. We like the competition," said Bill Deeley, president of the Groundhog Club's Inner Circle, which oversees Punxsutawney celebrations every year.

The 1993 movie "Groundhog Day" starring Bill Murray brought even more notoriety to Pennsylvania's pudgy little guy. The record attendance was about 30,000 the year after the movie's release, said Katie Donald, executive director of the Groundhog Club. When Feb. 2 falls on a weekday, about 13,000 people turn out for the event.

Phil typically gets rousted out of the Gobbler's Knob tree stump about 7:15 a.m. by an entourage wearing top hats and tuxedos. The forecast for that hour Saturday calls for a chance of snow with temperatures in the single digits.

Dancing at the scene should help some people stay warm. Or just huddling together with thousands of other visitors.

"It's not a fashion show that morning," Deeley said. "Dress like you were going snowmobiling or skiing or even warmer than that ... You break out the good stuff."